Victor Cruz is in Shipp shape

Marcel Shipp was one of the few football fans in America who hadn't seen Victor Cruz's incredible debut with the Giants until he watched highlights Thursday night on YouTube.

Shipp also is one of the few football players in America who knows exactly how Cruz feels after making the Giants' 53-man roster Saturday. Shipp was an undrafted University of Massachusetts star from Paterson in 2001, yet made the Arizona Cardinals' roster and played seven seasons as a tailback and special teams standout.

"I take my hat off to him, because when you go in as a free agent, as an underdog, you're really not supposed to make the team," said Shipp, who's finishing up his second training camp with the UFL's Las Vegas Locomotives, led by former Giants coach Jim Fassel. "He had to put the hard work in and I saw that first game where he blew up, and he made them into believers."

Shipp, a Passaic Tech graduate, is especially proud of Cruz, because the UMass alums have become friendly in recent years. Cruz volunteered to work Shipp's annual free summer football camp in Paterson in July, and they've worked out together several times.

"He reminded me of myself," Shipp said. "He's a quiet guy, real humble. Everything I've ever heard from people at UMass is how hard he works to be the best. That's always been my attitude as well, so I knew he would be just fine when training camp started."

Shipp says he was pleasantly surprised, though, the night he heard and read about Cruz becoming a "SportsCenter" sensation by catching three touchdown passes — including a one-handed grab near the sideline — during the Giants' preseason victory over the Jets.

Now that Cruz has defied the odds by making the team, Shipp hopes Cruz can meet Tom Coughlin's expectations of becoming a consistent special teams player. That's how Shipp got on the field as a rookie before beating out first-round draft choice Thomas Jones for a starting spot and earning a four-year, $8 million contract extension in his second season with the Cardinals.

Benjie Wimberly, Cruz's coach at Paterson Catholic, knows Cruz will do whatever is necessary to increase his chances of remaining a Giant. Regardless, Cruz became the first Paterson Catholic graduate since Jason Perry, a safety for San Diego, Cincinnati and Minnesota from 1999-2002, to make an NFL regular-season roster.

"It's great for our community," said Wimberly, a councilman at large in Paterson. "In Paterson, we always need an injection of hope. It'll inspire the next Victor Cruz, the next Gerald Hayes [Cardinals linebacker], the next Mike Adams [Cleveland safety], the next Marcel Shipp."

Cruz's accomplishment drew praise throughout North Jersey, which has a recent rich history of undrafted Division I-AA receivers becoming top players in the NFL [e.g. Garfield natives Wayne Chrebet and Miles Austin].

David Thompson, a Paterson native and ex-Eastside star, was particularly impressed by Cruz making the cut. Thompson, a defensive tackle for Ohio State's national championship team in 2003, was a rookie free agent cut by the Giants on their next-to-last cutdown day later that year.

"I'm very, very excited to see somebody else from the city of Paterson making it to the next level," said Teaneck resident Thompson, a Giants' fan. "I know how tough it is to be in his position. I'm very proud of him."